Ski-Blog.comFebruary 07, 2010
Truth in Motion
Sat down and watched Truth in Motion last night. Had it Tivo'd and got to watch it on the LCD in HD off of the local NBC station.
It really puts a face on the people that compete in the Olympics. So much of what we see is Shawn White this and Bode Miller that, but these are not the Shawn Whites with multimillion dollar endorsements. These are some of the most dedicated people you can find barely earning a living off sponsor money and ski team money to compete at the highest level.
What they do is not fun. It is not enjoyable. It is brutal. Most of the athletes describe some multiyear rehab from an injury that happened doing 60 miles per hour on icy snow. Bouncing from town to town and continent to continent to prepare.
And it is four years of preparation. Come the 1st of March, after the flame goes out in Vancouver, these athletes start gearing up for another four years of World Cups and qualifying and training to get ready for another go at the Olympics.
And if not, they prepare for the fact that their careers are over.
"Truth in Motion" stars 2010 U.S. Olympic Alpine Ski Team athletes Ted Ligety (Park City, UT), Sarah Schleper (Vail, CO), Jake Zamansky (Aspen, CO) and Tommy Ford (Bend, OR). There are also cameo appearances by Bode Miller (Franconia, NH), Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) and Scott Macartney (Crystal Mountain, WA) along with numerous coaches and ski technicians who support this Team."You see exactly what we're going through every day," said Ligety, the 2006 Olympic combined gold medalist. "I don't think anybody has ever gotten a truly in-depth look at ski racing. It's cool in that respect. This portrays what we do.
Directed by Academy Award nominee Brett Morgen, the film takes you inside the locker room in every aspect of the being an elite ski racer, only their locker room is Portillo, Chile; Saas Fee, Switzerland; Soelden, Austria, on airplanes, long car rides and hotel rooms across the globe.
"This film spends more time on the characters and people, the personalities and the perseverance," said Scott Keogh, chief marketing officer for Audi of America, which has supported the U.S. Ski Team since 2007.
There is a noted lack of glamour as the film takes you through pre dawn wakeup calls to check lactate levels and stretch before riding a frozen chairlift to work. The athletes are candid, raw and provide an insight to their sport that cannot be seen in a two-minute race.
"There were numerous moments where people said things to us that shocked and surprised us at how open they were," said Morgen, who followed the Team from Chile to Park City and then to Switzerland and Austria. "It was very important for us to let the skiing tell the story."
Schleper provides a unique aspect to the film as she delves into the difficulties of juggling motherhood with working to achieve her Olympic dream. Following two missed seasons after the 2006 Olympics – one to a torn ACL and the other for the birth of her son Lasse, who turns two Saturday – Schleper battled back into the World Cup elite and successfully made her fourth Olympic Team.
I strongly recommend that you watch it when it repeats on NBC this week.
My comments to Jake after we finished watching it:
Jake, I have watched you ski since you were 5 and seen how much better you get every time we go out. If you really put your mind to it, dedicate yourself, and train hard for the next few years, one day, you might be good enough to make the US Ski Team and get a job waxing and tuning their skis.
I am a supportive dad. It is what I do.
Posted by Justin at 02:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Categories: General Skiing
February 01, 2010
Intrawest Defaults on Loans, Lenders Start Foreclosure Process (h/t Mark)
A reader sent me this story from CBC regarding Intrawest's financial problems:
Wall Street financiers say they are going to put the Whistler Blackcomb resort up for sale while the facility is hosting Winter Olympic events next month.Creditors who have lent $1.4 billion US to the ski resort's owners, Intrawest ULC, have effectively seized control of the company and are attempting to auction off its assets.
Whistler Blackcomb, one of numerous ski resorts Intrawest owns in Canada and the U.S., is set to host major ski events at the Olympic Games next month.
On Tuesday, a notice of a public auction to be held Feb. 19, 2010, was published in newspapers in Canada and the United States, soliciting bids for a membership interest in Intrawest Holdings. Among the assets in the notice were "partnership interests in two resort properties located in Canada (Whistler and Blackcomb)."
In 2006, Wall Street hedge fund Fortress Investments LLC bought Intrawest in a $2.8-billion US deal. Fortress recently missed a $524 million debt payment connected to that purchase.
The primary lender on the Intrawest deal in 2006 was defunct investment bank Lehman Brothers. New York debt managers Davidson Kempner and Oak Hill Advisors also helped finance the deal, and a source familiar with the process told CBC News the major creditors are united in pursuing the auction process.
Typically, lenders are willing to work with borrowers to avoid foreclosure. But the lenders' inability to move the debt repayment plan along seems to have spurred this week's unexpected developments.
Most of these issues are symptoms of the economic meltdown. Especially the meltdown in real estate values. There is more fallout coming.
Posted by Justin at 09:21 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Categories: General Skiing
January 31, 2010
Outstanding Day at Sunrise
Took a day trip to Sunrise with my cousin Zach that took a whole lot of arm twisting. He finally told me on Thursday that if no one else was going to go that he guessed he would because had already committed but that he didn't really want to drive 250 miles each way in the same day.
We were going to leave around 4AM from my place and he stayed over. Unfortunately, at 1AM were will still up and hanging out and finally against our best judgment figured if we chanced going to sleep, we would oversleep and not end up going so we left then. I made it to Payson before I doubled over exhausted and he slept the entire way in the back seat of the Avy. A quick breakfast at the only restaurant on the planet that doesn't take credit or debit and is cash only, then off the rest of the way there.
I have never seen Sunrise so packed. The parking overflowed all the way down the main road about two miles, almost to the lodge. The base areas were completely packed. And on top of all that, the restaurant/lodge at the top of Apache got a bunch of water damage so there was no real place to stop up there. The food sucked, even by Sunrise standards. But we weren't really there to eat.
Started at around 10 because of the traffic and by 1, I still had not even clicked out of my bindings when we grabbed lunch. By that time we had skied all three mountains for at least a run. The runs that had been being skied a lot were in great shape. The ones that were less accessible or less used were like skiing concrete because the 4' dump from last weekend had been sitting for a week and compacting. Then you add that it was chopped up and it was horrible to ski.
There is a great midmountain lift that goes from halfway up Sunrise Peak to the top and is just off to the right of the midway lodge that had ZERO lift line so we did several laps on it taking Rustler and Superstition. Best skiing of the day was right there. Zach was a hell of a skier ten years ago so by the end of the morning, he was back where he could hang.
About 3, we got to the top of Sunrise and I decided I was going to poach Quakie and have Zach take Arrowhead and meet me at the bottom since he refused to go poaching with me. He made the right choice. Quakie was horrible. It gets direct sun all day and was almost untracked and just nasty. Difficult to ski. Small trees poking up. Bleh!
Bad news is that Arrowhead crosses with a run that goes to Sunrise base where I thought we were going but also goes straight down to the Cyclone base. I waited for Zach, but could not find him and I ended up at Cyclone while he was at Sunrise. Then vice versa. Then waiting and looking. Finally after about 30 minutes of waiting, I had time for one last run.
When we were walking in from the parking in BFE, I met a couple guys from back east and was BSing. One of them was a hard core New Yorker and he was just rolling up to the line at Sunrise as I was about to get on. I climbed over the rope, went to wrong way in line and pushed my way back to get to him and his three buddies. You guys mind if I take the last run with you?
Tony had a softside cooler bag at the top of Sunrise from lunch that he had to bring down and thankfully his buddy John said he would carry it so he could get one last major run in. The two of us took Rustler as hard and as fast as I have ever skied moguls in a late afternoon dim light where you could barely see the contours of the snow just mashing the pedal down. Stop halfway down, catch a little breath, mash some more. It was the best mogul run I have skied. Having someone to push you and make you work. We flew to the base area and were 4 chairs to late to make the last run of the day. I begged. I bribed. Hell, I tried to steal, but no way.
Always end the day with the best run. I wanted to do Lupe if we could get on the last chair, but that was left for another day.
Gave out the URL for the site and hope to get an email so we can trip up there again.
Posted by Justin at 02:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Categories: Sunrise
January 25, 2010
Perhaps the Best Ski Day Ever at Brian Head
I hate making a pronouncement like that but in the last week BH has gotten over 4' of snow and Saturday we cut first tracks on Dunes and by first tracks I mean we took at least four laps down The Plunge before anyone else even tried.
Saturday was 15 degrees, sunny without a cloud, and almost zero wind. Plus four feet of fresh.
And even at that, we were done around noon because we had seen and done all there was to see and do. Roulette. Check. Face of Giant Steps and Engens. Check. Several laps on Dunes. Check. Hit all the usual powder stashes. Skied all the places we love to ski.
Here is how bad it was--after a perfect ski day, we were so thoroughly bored with Brian Head (5 years of 20 days will do that to you) that we spent Sunday SNOWBOARDING. First time for me, Jake and Jackson. Dude, I am sore. I really don't like falling on my face, but falling on my ass and worrying about broken wrists is worse. I am sore. Tired. Have a headache. Jake broke his goggles he fell so hard. And in general I suck ass at it. Jake and Jackson are much better than I am.
I hate to speak ill of a bluebird powder day, but I am just growing so bored of skiing the same terrain over and over. That said, Jarrett has been in lessons every trip this year and because he is an advanced intermediate and there are very few of them here, he gets either a private lesson or a lesson with 1-2 other kids at worst. He is really coming along.
Which brings me to another point. Jake talking trash. He tells me how bad I suck and how much better he is than me at the top of Engens. I say, tell you what, let's race to the bottom and see. Knee to waist deep pow, steepest place on the mountain (not saying much). I blew him away. So then he says, "Well I meant best form, not fastest." OK, we head down to the next big drop and we try again so I can see his form. He ate it about halfway down, total faceplant yardsale.
It helps having my brand new Nordica Zeros. I am not going to lie. Good gear helps a ton. Skiing the pow was effortless and there is no way to keep up with me when my skis are 20mm wider tip-waist-tail than his. But I ain't telling him that. I will keep my superiority as long as I can afford newer better gear which will be pretty much forever given his grades this year. He is a much better skier than student and that ain't saying much.
Jackson on the other hand just quietly goes about shredding.
Posted by Justin at 05:31 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) | Categories: Brian Head
January 22, 2010
Sunrise Closed Due to Massive Storm
When you are closed because you got between 3-4' and the roads are shut down across half the state you know conditions will be good the next day.
Record storm in AZ last night.
I am debating going to the condo tonight or taking the ski bus to Sunrise tomorrow. Still 50-50.
Posted by Justin at 09:35 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Categories: Sunrise
January 18, 2010
Promotions from Brian Head
Just got an email from the promotions folks at Brian Head:
Brian Head, UT â Several new lodging/skiing/boarding packages and multiple promotions offering 50%-off adult lift tickets have been introduced at Southern Utahâ s Brian Head Resort, the best-kept skiing and snowboarding secret in the Southwestern States and one of Americaâ s "Top Family Getaways," according to the Family Travel Forum.Just opened in December 2009, The Grand Lodge at Brian Head is offering its Ski Packages starting at $189 per night based on double occupancy ($94.50 per-person). The package is valid Sunday thru Thursday and includes accommodations for two in a Resort Queen or a Resort King room, two Brian Head Resort adult lift tickets per night stayed and two appetizers per day at The Lift Lounge & Patio. The package is offered through 4/11/10. For these and many other events and packages, visit www.grandlodgebrianhead.com or call (435) 677-9000. Enhanced with the most modern of amenities, the new, 100-room Grand Lodge at Brian Head pays homage to the majestic beauty of the southern Utah landscape with stone, timber and log walls, rough-hewn wood, wood beam ceilings, stone fireplaces and bronze metal and granite accented furnishings. Guests can enjoy an indoor pool with cascading waterfall, indoor and outdoor hot tubs, a fitness center and the Red Leaf Spa. The Lodge is pet-friendly, offers complimentary parking and all rooms are non-smoking.
Long-time Brian Head lodging favorite, Cedar Breaks Lodge and Spa is offering a Stay 3 Ski Free package, a three-night package with check-in on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday. It includes accommodations in a newly remodeled King or Junior Villa and four all area lift tickets for just $114 per night based on double occupancy ($57 per-person) â for a total, three-night-package price of $340. Last night to check in with this package is 4/6/10. More information is at www.cedarbreakslodge.com or 1-888-AT-CEDAR. Cedar Breaks Lodge has been serving Brian Head visitors for over 13 years, and its accommodations include 118 comfortable Villas with seven different floor plans perfect for couples and families up to eight people, underground parking, 24/7 front desk, (two) restaurants, a cocktail lounge, indoor pool with a spacious deck, steam room, dry sauna, (two) fireside hot tubs, gift shop and the Cedar Breaks Spa. At Cedar Breaks Lodge guests will find all the amenities and service second to none that will make their next visit to Brian Head memorable and enjoyable.Each package requires a deposit with a 72 hour (prior to the arrival date) cancellation policy, does not include tax or gratuities, and is subject to availability.
Brian Head is offering steep discounts: A $39 package for first-time-beginner skiers or snowboarders 13 years-old or older. It includes a 2-hour morning lesson or 2-hour afternoon lesson, a lift ticket and rental equipment. This offer is good January 22, 23 and 24, 2010. The ski area is also offering 50%-off adults lift tickets Monday through Friday during non-holiday periods for those presenting a police, fire or military ID at the ticket window, for everyone purchasing 8 gallons or more of fuel at KB Express or Terrible Herbst locations in California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah (www.terribleherbst.com), and for all Snow Jam Preferred Card holders (www.brianhead.com/special_offers). Those purchasing a Dixie Direct Book and presenting their Dixie Direct membership card (www.dixiedirectcard.com) at the ticket window will receive a "Buy one Get one FREE" Brian Head Resort lift ticket. (Holiday periods: 1/16-1/18; 2/13-2/15)
Check the place out. I love Brian Head and it is a great place to learn or just enjoy a few days on the snow. Not steep and deep, but with the current storm coming, it is still incredible skiing.
Posted by Justin at 03:37 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) | Categories: Brian Head
January 14, 2010
Popular Mechanics Follows Avalanche Patrolers
Cool Article on Avalanche Patrolers in Popular Mechanics:
The bomb is the size of a soup can, bright orange, stuffed with two pounds of pentolite—a chalky mixture of TNT and an even more powerful explosive compound known as PETN. Ross Titilah, a 31-year-old ski patroller at Big Sky Resort in southern Montana, ties the bomb to one end of a short nylon rope and triggers the igniter. Ninety seconds until detonation. The other end of the rope is attached to what’s known as a bomb tram—a sort of ski lift for explosives that stretches from one fin of rock to another high above the entrance to a steep gully in Big Sky’s experts-only area...Big Sky is one of the more awe-inspiring resorts in North America, centered around a solitary pyramidal mountain—Lone Peak—which can be skied right from the summit. I arrived following one of the winter’s biggest storms, which dropped more than a foot of snow amid fierce winds. The easiest thing to do, when faced with an unstable snowpack, is simply keep most of the mountain closed. Sometimes this happens. But a patroller’s job is a tricky juggle between mitigating natural dangers and satiating skiers’ desires. To an avid skier or snowboarder, there’s nothing more joyful than flying through steep, untracked snow—precisely the scenario that’s most uncertain in terms of stability. The compromise is that, after a storm, the patrol activates the most slide-prone areas by detonating powerful explosives.
High on the flanks of Lone Peak, in the moments before the bomb hanging from the tram is set to explode, Ross and Steve instinctively scan the surrounding slopes, reading the terrain with practiced eyes. “Flagged there,” says Ross, indicating a line of evergreens whose branches have been sheared off on one side where previous avalanches have swept close by. “Point release,” Steve says, motioning with his chin to a spot where a cliff band, warmed by the rising sun, is naturally shedding the new powder, sloughing little waterfalls of snow.
There’s a flash, and a bang—and, for a second, nothing. Then, from down in the gully comes a loud and disconcerting whooomp, as if an overloaded bookshelf has snapped its supports and dropped onto the shelf below it, which is close to what has happened. Abruptly, what had looked like an inviting ski run is transformed into a tumbling, churning mass of snow, blasting down the hill—avalanches often exceed 90 miles per hour—leaving in its wake a billowing cloud of snow mist, gorgeous and daunting at once.
This is a relatively small slide. The vertical crown face at the top of the avalanche path—which indicates the depth of the snow slab that broke away—is only a foot tall. Some slides at Big Sky have 13-foot crowns. Still, it’s easy to see how, if a skier is caught in an avalanche, escape is virtually impossible. Once the slide is over, though, the slope is considerably safer; it’s like a rubber band that has snapped, its tension dissipated.
Have a quick read. Interesting stuff about the folks that keep us safe.
Posted by Justin at 03:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Categories: General Skiing
